This is perhaps the laziest era in recorded history.
People are not wanting a challenge.
They lack interest,
passion, patience and enthusiasm.
Rather than work, people just want to be entertained.
Like spoiled children...

Just as muscular tension prevents relaxed, free movement of the joints,
psychological clutter impedes the mind.
It is necessary for the mind to become empty and relaxed.
Instead of thinking constantly, comparing, problem solving, judging and
remembering, be present, be here and now.

Water

Make sure that you drink a lot of water throughout the day.
1.5 - 2 litres is best.

Stimulants

Contrary to what people believe, caffeine-laced stimulants will not improve
your brain health.
Avoid sugar and caffeine.

Acuity

A healthy brain is capable of dealing with change.
It can see things clearly. Insights flow easily and the ability to adapt spontaneously is heightened.
You begin to learn from everything you see around you.
A more flexible, healthy brain gives you a major edge.

If there is
any instrument you must fall in love with and fetishize, it is the human
brain - the most miraculous, awe-inspiring, information-processing tool
devised in the known universe, with a complexity we can't even begin to
fathom, and with dimensional powers that far outstrip any piece of
technology in sophistication and usefulness.

Once you are training tai chi, you must supplement physical training by
reading the recommended books.
These titles will expand your consciousness, increase your awareness,
develop a more flexible mind and make you receptive to unforeseen
possibilities.
Ultimately, the time you commit to your mental development will prove to be
just as valuable as the physical training.

Minds leads the
body

Tai chi is understood by doing.
It is a physical activity.
You cannot claim to have any grasp of the Art by only watching video clips
or reading a book.
It is necessary to physically experience the Art using your body.

Mind tension

Most people's arms are extremely tense and they don't even realise it.
Why? Why are people's arms tense? Your hand is the primary tool employed by the
mind for the exploration of
reality. You touch, you
hold, you press, you pull, you
manipulate most things using your hands.Jacob Bronowski wrote "The hand is the
cutting edge of the mind."There's your answer. A tense arm
is the by-product of a mind that is not in
any way relaxed and
at ease.

Initially a student gains a certain level of understanding.
This is merely a starting place.
With further study and discussion, the student discovers more. They then
employ the insights in their tai chi practice. The student goes deeper.
You can always go deeper.

Imagine a tai chi instructor who was unfamiliar with
The Tai Chi
Classics?
Or had never read Chuang Tzu, Tao Te Ching, The Art of War or
The Book of
Five Rings repeatedly over many years?
Reading these books provides a necessary background for
the Art.
But more than that; they help the student to gain the degree of
mental
flexibility required to practice tai chi properly.
The classic texts cannot be quickly or easily understood. They must be read
over and over again.
Unrelated authors such as Krishnamurti can further stretch the
mind and
assist in the process of comprehension.

We are checking our smartphones on
average 221 times a day. Recent research found that 80 percent of
millennials look at their phones upon waking; this addiction is a strong
one. As a result, our cognitive processing has become shallower and we have
become so distracted that we play directly into the hands of the autopilot.
Digital devices are the modern day equivalent of tranquillisers. They instil
a trance-like state almost immediately as they are anchors for our
subconscious to take over.

Many people imagine that everything can be explained using
words.
A common myth suggests that the failure to convey reality via language is a
failing of the teacher.
This is absurd.
Try explaining what a car is...
A vehicle (what is a vehicle?), a mode of transportation, a status
symbol, a means of getting from one destination to another...Does the explanation enable you to drive a car?
Do you now know how to make your own car?The danger with explanations is that they invariably
fall short of being
useful.
They are often too simplistic.

Brain training

Every activity you undertake in a given day can be enhanced and improved by
exercising your mind, calming your emotions and cultivating
mental
resilience.
You work more productively.
You drive with greater awareness and caution.
You feel significantly less stressed.
You see choices, possibilities and options more readily.

Earthquake in Sumatra. Plane crash
in Russia. Man holds daughter captive in cellar for thirty years. Heidi Klum
separates from Seal. Record salaries at Bank of
America. Attack in Pakistan. Resignation of Mali's
president. New world record in shot-put. Do you really need to know all
these things?

We are incredibly well informed yet we know incredibly little. Why? Because
two centuries ago we invented a toxic form of
knowledge called 'news'. News is to the
mind what sugar is to the body: appetising, easy to digest - and highly
destructive in the long run.